Would you be willing to hire a potential foreign intelligence agent if it meant direct access to an antagonistic, elusive…
“Not Treated as Beyond the Pale:” Cold War Nuclear Options to Respond to a Soviet Bloc Invasion
The mid-nineteen seventies are often considered a time of détente (the easing of tensions) between the United States and the…
Stirrings of Islamic Militancy in Nigeria: An Ambassador’s Recollections
When Thomas Pickering was Ambassador to Nigeria in 1980-83, he witnessed the stirrings of Islamic militancy and other transformations of…
Spies and Prostitutes: Memories of a Visa Officer in Post-WWII Greece
In post-World War II Greece, U.S. consular officers met all kinds of people—from suspected spies to prostitutes. Don Gelber was…
Guatemala in the 1960s: Vigilantes or Government Operatives?
Young political officer William Newlin arrived in Guatemala in early 1966 amidst worsening political and social chaos. As the civil…
Duty and Danger: An American Diplomat’s Service in Iraq on the Eve of 1991 Gulf War
American diplomat Stephen Thibeault watched as an airplane departed Iraq in 1990, carrying Rev. Jesse Jackson and American hostages liberated…
Duty and Danger: A Diplomatic Spouse Targeted for Assassination in Algeria
When they learned they were marked for assassination, Parvaneh Limbert and her husband John — the political section chief at…
Frank Carlucci and the Last Days of Patrice Lumumba in the Congo
Long before he was President Reagan’s Secretary of Defense, Frank Carlucci was a young State Department political officer in Kinshasa,…
Long Before He Headed the CIA, James Woolsey Challenged Paul Nitze Over the Vietnam War
For a young lieutenant to challenge the number two man in the Department of Defense over Vietnam policy in 1969…
Frank Carlucci: Helping Block the Communists in Portugal
After decades of right-wing dictatorship, Portugal faced a threat of a takeover by communists in the mid-1970s. Ambassador Frank Carlucci,…